Independence of Colonial Peoples - Progress of decolonization

In the 10 years following the adoption of the declaration on the ending
of colonialism (1960 to 1970), 27 territories (with a total population
of over 53 million) attained independence. Some 44 territories (with a
population of approximately 28 million) remained under foreign rule or
control, however, and the General Assembly's work in hastening
the process of decolonization was far from completed. In Africa, an
ever-widening confrontation had emerged between the colonial and
white-minority regimes and the roughly 18 million Africans in Portuguese
Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and
São Tomé and Príncipe; in Southern Rhodesia, which
was legally still a British possession; and in the old League of Nations
mandate territory of South West Africa, officially designated as Namibia
by the UN. Resisting all efforts by the UN to bring an end to
white-minority rule by peaceful means, these regimes refused to change
despite pressures brought upon them both by the international community
and by the demands of the African peoples of the territories.

This refusal had led to the emergence of African national liberation
movements within the territories and to a series of armed conflicts that
were seen by independent African states as a menace to peace and
stability and as the potential cause of a bloody racial war engulfing
the whole of Africa. Armed conflict, beginning in 1960 in Angola, had,
in fact, spread to all the Portuguese-controlled territories on the
African mainland and, as the African liberation movements gained
strength and support, had developed into full-scale warfare in Angola,
Portuguese Guinea, and Mozambique, engaging large Portuguese armies and
putting a serious strain on Portugal's economy.

In Southern Rhodesia and Namibia, armed struggle for liberation was
slower to develop, but despite the essential differences in the problems
presented by these territories, the General Assembly—partly in
response to a growing collaboration between South Africa, Portugal, and
the white-minority regime in Southern Rhodesia—had come to view
them as aspects of a single consuming issue of white-minority rule
versus black-majority rights.

The strategy advocated by the Afro-Asian Group, supported by the
Soviet-bloc countries and many others, for rectifying the situation in
these territories was essentially to obtain recognition and support for
their African national liberation movements and to seek the application,
through a Security Council decision made under Chapter VII of the
charter, of mandatory enforcement measures, including full economic
sanctions and military force as circumstances warranted. However, in
each case, except partially in that of Southern Rhodesia, the use of
mandatory enforcement measures was decisively resisted by two permanent
members of the Security Council, the United Kingdom and the United
States, which, together with several other Western nations, felt that
they could not afford to embark upon a policy of confrontation with the
economically wealthy white-minority regimes of southern Africa.

Despite this resistance, the African and Asian nations continued to
maintain the spotlight of attention on issues of decolonization. Year
after year, one or another of the cases mentioned above was brought
before the Security Council. Each session of the General Assembly, and
of the Special Committee on decolonization, was the scene of lengthy and
often acrimonious debates. This constant pressure led to greater
recognition and status for the national liberation movements of the
territories in Africa and brought about widespread condemnation and
isolation of the white regimes. In 1971, for the first time, a mission
of the Special Committee visited the liberated areas of Guinea-Bissau at
the invitation of the African liberation movement concerned and found
that the liberation movement had established an effective
administration.

In 1972, the General Assembly affirmed for the first time that
"the national liberation movements of Angola, Guinea-Bissau and
Cape Verde, and Mozambique are the authentic representatives of the true
aspirations of the peoples of those territories" and recommended
that, pending the independence of those territories, all governments and
UN bodies should, when dealing with matters pertaining to the
territories, ensure the representation of those territories by the
liberation movements concerned. In the following year, the General
Assembly extended similar recognition to the national liberation
movements of Southern Rhodesia and Namibia.

On 25 April 1974, largely as a result of internal and external pressures
resulting from its colonial wars, a change of regime occurred in
Portugal that had major repercussions on the situation in its African
territories. The new regime pledged itself to ending the colonial wars
and began negotiations with the national liberation movements. By the
end of 1974, Portuguese troops had been withdrawn from Guinea-Bissau and
the latter had become a UN member. This was followed by the independence
and admission to UN membership of Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São
Tomé and Príncipe in 1975 and Angola in 1976.

Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

The problem of Southern Rhodesia, which in 1977 had a population of
almost 7 million, of whom 6.5 million were Africans, was not resolved
until the end of the decade.

Southern Rhodesia had been given full internal self-government by the
United Kingdom in 1923, although under a constitution that vested
political power exclusively in the hands of the white settlers. Hence,
the United Kingdom did not include this dependency in its original 1946
list of non-self-governing territories and did not transmit information
on it to the UN. Although, by the terms of the 1923 constitution, the
United Kingdom retained the residual power to veto any legislation
contrary to African interests, this power was never used, and no attempt
was made to interfere with the white settlers' domination of the
territorial government.

UN involvement in the question of Southern Rhodesia began in 1961, when
African and Asian members tried, without success, to bring pressure to
bear upon the United Kingdom not to permit a new territorial
constitution to come into effect. While giving Africans their first
representation in the Southern Rhodesian parliament, the 1961
constitution restricted their franchise through a two-tier electoral
system heavily weighted in favor of the European community.

In June 1962, acting on the recommendation of the Special Committee, the
General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring Southern Rhodesia to be
a non-self-governing territory within the meaning of Chapter XI of the
charter, on the grounds that the vast majority of the people of Southern
Rhodesia were denied equal political rights and liberties. The General
Assembly requested the United Kingdom to convene a conference of all
political parties in Rhodesia for the purpose of drawing up a new
constitution that would ensure the rights of the majority on the basis
of "one-man, one-vote." However, the United Kingdom
continued to maintain that it could not interfere in Rhodesia's
domestic affairs. The 1961 constitution duly came into effect in
November 1962.

On 11 November 1965, the government of Ian Smith unilaterally declared
Southern Rhodesia independent. The United Kingdom, after branding the
declaration an "illegal act," brought the matter to the
Security Council on the following day, and a resolution was adopted
condemning the declaration and calling upon all states to refrain from
recognizing and giving assistance to the "rebel" regime.
On 20 November, the council adopted a resolution condemning the
"usurpation of power," calling upon the United Kingdom to
bring the regime to an immediate end, and requesting all states, among
other things, to sever economic relations and institute an embargo on
oil and petroleum products. In 1968, the Security Council imposed wider
mandatory sanctions against Southern Rhodesia and established a
committee to oversee the application of the sanctions. The General
Assembly urged countries to render moral and material assistance to the
national liberation movements of Zimbabwe, the African name for the
territory.

On 2 March 1970, Southern Rhodesia proclaimed itself a republic, thus
severing its ties with the United Kingdom. After Mozambique became
independent in 1975, guerrilla activity along the border with Southern
Rhodesia intensified; the border was then closed, further threatening
the economy of Southern Rhodesia, already hurt by UN-imposed sanctions.

In 1977, Anglo-American proposals for the settlement of the Southern
Rhodesian problem were communicated to the Security Council by the
United Kingdom. The proposals called for the surrender of power by the
illegal regime, free elections on the basis of universal suffrage, the
establishment by the United Kingdom of a transitional administration,
the presence of a UN force during the transitional period, and the
drafting of an independence constitution. The proposals were to be
discussed at a conference of all political parties in Southern Rhodesia,
white and African. However, the regime rejected the idea of such a
conference. Attempts by the regime in 1978 and early 1979 to draft a new
constitution giving some political power to Africans but maintaining
effective control by the white minority failed, and the struggle by
forces of the liberation movement, called the Patriotic Front,
intensified.

In August 1979, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher stated at the
Conference of Commonwealth Heads of State and Government that her
government intended to bring Southern Rhodesia to legal independence on
a basis acceptable to the international community. To this end, a
constitutional conference was convened in London on 10 September, to
which representatives of the Patriotic Front and the Rhodesian
administration in Salisbury were invited. On 21 December, an agreement
was signed on a draft independence constitution and on transitional
arrangements for its implementation, as well as on a cease-fire to take
effect on 28 December. Lord Soames was appointed governor of the
territory until elections, which took place in February 1980 in the
presence of UN observers. On 11 March, Lord Soames formally appointed
Robert G. Mugabe, whose party had received the majority of seats in the
House of Assembly, as prime minister. The independence of Zimbabwe was
proclaimed on 18 April 1980, and on 25 August, Zimbabwe became a member
of the UN.

Remaining Colonial Issues

The 16 remaining dependent territories are almost all small islands
scattered about the globe. Their tiny populations and minimal economic
resources render it almost impossible for them to survive as viable,
fully independent states. Table 1 sets forth all the former
non-self-governing territories that have become independent or joined
neighboring independent states. Table 2 lists the remaining
non-self-governing territories.

Although the administering powers joined with the rest of the UN
membership in asserting that the peoples of these small territories have
an inalienable right to the exercise of self-determination, the leaders
of the drive to end colonialism have doubted the genuineness of the
preparations for achieving this goal. As evidence to justify their
skepticism, the African and Asian nations pointed out that military
bases were established in some of the small territories, which they
declared "incompatible with the purposes and principles of the
Charter." Moreover, in the case of territories that the
administering powers have declared their intention of preparing for
self-governing status rather than for full independence, the majority of
UN members feel that the General Assembly should be granted an active
role in ascertaining the wishes of the inhabitants and furnished with
more comprehensive information on conditions prevailing in the
territories. The General Assembly has approved numerous resolutions
requesting the administering states to allow UN missions to visit the
remaining non-self-governing territories to ascertain, firsthand, the
wishes of the inhabitants, but has met with little cooperation.

Two of the territories that have been brought under the General
Assembly's surveillance through the Special Committee are United
Kingdom possessions in which the issue of decolonization is complicated
by conflicting claims of sovereignty by other nations—the
Falkland Islands (Malvinas), also claimed by Argentina, and Gibraltar,
also claimed by Spain.

With regard to another territory, Western Sahara, Spain informed the
Secretary-General in 1976 that it had terminated its presence in the
territory and considered itself henceforth exempt from any international
responsibility in connection with its administration. Western Sahara,
however, continued to be listed by the General Assembly as
non-self-governing.

The Special Committee annually reviews the list of territories to which
the declaration on decolonization is applicable. In 1986, France, the
administering power of New Caledonia, refused to recognize the
competence of the committee over the territory or to transmit to the UN
the information called for under Article 73(e) of the charter. France
has, however, asserted that it will respect the wishes of the majority
of the people of New Caledonia, in accordance with the provisions of the
Matignon Agreement agreed to by all the parties in 1988. As a result of
the Nouméa Accord of 1998, the New Caledonian parties opted for a
negotiated solution and progressive autonomy from France rather than an
immediate referendum. The transfer of powers from France began in 2000
and will continue for 15 to 20 years, when the territory will opt for
full independence or a form of associated statehood. As of 2002, New
Caledonia continued to vote in French presidential elections and to
elect parliamentary representatives to the French Senate and National
Assembly. However, new political institutions were formed in New
Caledonia as a result of the Nouméa Accord, and they continued to
function throughout 2001 and 2002.

The Problem of Namibia (South West Africa)

The status of South West Africa (officially designated as Namibia by the
General Assembly in June 1968), a pre-World War I German colony that was
administered by South Africa under a League of Nations mandate beginning
in 1920, has preoccupied the General Assembly almost from the first
moment of the UN's existence. In 1946, South Africa proposed that
the Assembly approve its annexation of the territory. Fearing that the
South African government would seek to extend its apartheid system to
South West Africa, the General Assembly did not approve the proposal and
recommended instead that the territory be placed under the UN
trusteeship system. In the following year, South Africa informed the
General Assembly that while it agreed not to annex the territory, it
would not place it under trusteeship. Although South Africa had reported
on conditions in the territory in 1946, it declined to submit further
reports, despite repeated requests from the General Assembly.

In 1950, the International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion
requested by the General Assembly, held that South Africa continued to
have international obligations to promote to the utmost the material and
moral well-being and social progress of the inhabitants of the territory
as a sacred trust of civilization, and that the UN should exercise the
supervisory functions of the League of Nations in the administration of
the territory. South Africa refused to accept the court's opinion
and continued to oppose any form of UN supervision over the
territory's affairs.

In October 1966, the General Assembly, declaring that South Africa had
failed to fulfill its obligations under the League of Nations mandate to
ensure the well-being of the people of the territory and that it had, in
fact, disavowed the mandate, decided that the mandate was therefore
terminated, that South Africa had no other right to administer the
territory, and that thenceforth the territory came under the direct
responsibility of the UN. In May 1967, the General Assembly established
the UN Council for South West Africa (later renamed the UN Council for
Namibia) to administer the territory until independence "with the
maximum possible participation of the people of the territory."
It also decided to establish the post of UN Commissioner for Namibia to
assist the council in carrying out its mandate. Later in the same year,
in the face of South Africa's refusal to accept its decision and
to cooperate with the UN Council for Namibia, the General Assembly
recommended that the Security Council take measures to enable the UN
Council for Namibia to carry out its mandate.

In its first resolution on the question, in 1969, the Security Council
recognized the termination of the mandate by the General Assembly,
described the continued presence of South Africa in Namibia as illegal,
and called on South Africa to withdraw its administration from the
territory immediately. In the following year, the Security Council
explicitly declared for the first time that "all acts taken by
the government of South Africa on behalf of or concerning Namibia after
the termination of the mandate are illegal and invalid." This
view was upheld in 1971 by the International Court of Justice, which
stated, in an advisory opinion requested by the Security Council, that
"the continued presence of South Africa in Namibia being illegal,
South Africa is under obligation to withdraw its administration from
Namibia immediately and thus put an end to its occupation of the
territory." South Africa, however, again refused to comply with
UN resolutions on the question of Namibia, and it continued to
administer the territory.

To secure for the Namibians "adequate protection of the natural
wealth and resources of the territory which is rightfully
theirs," the UN Council for Namibia enacted a Decree for the
Protection of the Natural Resources of Namibia in September 1974. Under
the decree, no person or entity may search for, take, or distribute any
natural resource found in Namibia without the council's
permission, and any person or entity contravening the decree "may
be held liable in damages by the future government of an independent
Namibia." The council also established, in the same year, the
Institute for Namibia (located in Lusaka, Zambia, until South
Africa's withdrawal from Namibia) to provide Namibians with
education and training and equip them to administer a future independent
Namibia.

In 1976, the Security Council demanded for the first time that South
Africa accept elections for the territory as a whole under UN
supervision and control so that the people of Namibia might freely
determine their own future. It condemned South Africa's
"illegal and arbitrary application … of racially
discriminatory and repressive laws and practices in Namibia," its
military buildup, and its use of the territory "as a base for
attacks on neighboring countries."

In the same year, the General Assembly condemned South Africa
"for organizing the so-called constitutional talks at Wind-hoek,
which seek to perpetuate the apartheid and homelands policies as well as
the colonial oppression and exploitation of the people and resources of
Namibia." It decided that any independence talks regarding
Namibia must be between the representatives of South Africa and the
South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), which it
recognized as "the sole and authentic representative of the
Namibian people." In 1977, the General Assembly declared that
South Africa's decision to annex Walvis Bay, Namibia's
main port, was "illegal, null, and void" and "an
act of colonial expansion," and it condemned the annexation as an
attempt "to undermine the territorial integrity and unity of
Namibia."

At a special session on Namibia in May 1978, the General Assembly
adopted a declaration on Namibia and a program of action in support of
self-determination and national independence for Namibia. Expressing
"full support for the armed liberation struggle of the Namibian
people under the leadership of the SWAPO," it stated that any
negotiated settlement must be arrived at with the agreement of SWAPO and
within the framework of UN resolutions.

The UN Plan for Namibian Independence.
In July 1978, the Security Council met to consider a proposal by the
five Western members of the council—Canada, France, the Federal
Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United
States—for a settlement of the Namibian question. The proposal
comprised a plan for free elections to a constituent assembly under the
supervision and control of a UN representative, assisted by a UN
transition assistance group that would include both civilian and
military components. The council took note of the Western proposal and
requested the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative for
Namibia. In September 1978, after approving a report by the
Secretary-General based on his special representative's findings,
the council, in Resolution 435 (1978), endorsed the UN plan for the
independence of Namibia, and it decided to establish, under its
authority, the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) to ensure the
early independence of Namibia through free and fair elections under UN
supervision and control.

The Secretary-General's report stated that the implementation of
the UN plan would be carried out in three stages: (1) cessation of all
hostile acts by all parties; (2) the repeal of discriminatory or
restrictive laws, the release of political prisoners, and the voluntary
return of exiles and refugees; and (3) the holding of elections after a
seven-month pre-electoral period, to be followed by the entry into force
of the newly adopted constitution and the consequent achievement of
independence by Namibia.

Since 1978, the General Assembly has continually reaffirmed that
Security Council Resolution 435 (1978), in which the council endorsed
the UN plan for the independence of Namibia, is the only basis for a
peaceful settlement. It has condemned South Africa for obstructing the
implementation of that resolution and other UN resolutions, for
"its manoeuvres aimed at perpetuating its illegal occupation of
Namibia," and for its attempts to establish a
"linkage" between the independence of Namibia and
"irrelevant, extraneous" issues, such as the presence of
Cuban troops in Angola. In furtherance of the objective of bringing to
an end South Africa's occupation of Namibia, the General Assembly
has called upon all states to sever all relations with South Africa, and
it has urged the Security Council to impose mandatory comprehensive
sanctions against South Africa. The General Assembly also has continued
to authorize the UN Council for Namibia, as the legal administering
authority for Namibia, to mobilize international support for the
withdrawal of the illegal South African administration from Namibia, to
counter South Africa's policies against the Namibian people and
against the UN, to denounce and seek the rejection by all states of
South Africa's attempts to perpetuate its presence in Namibia,
and to ensure the nonrecognition of any administration or political
entity installed in Namibia, such as the so-called interim government
imposed in Namibia on 17 June 1985, that is not the result of free
elections held under UN supervision and control.

In April 1987, the Secretary-General reported to the Security Council
that agreement had been reached on the system of proportional
representation for the elections to be held in Namibia as envisaged in
Council Resolution 435 (1978). Thus, he noted, all outstanding issues
had been resolved, and the only reason for the delay in the emplacement
of UNTAG and an agreement on a cease-fire was South Africa's
unacceptable precondition that the Cuban troops be withdrawn from Angola
before the implementation of the UN plan for Namibian independence.

In December 1988, after eight months of intense negotiations brokered by
the United States, Angola, Cuba, and South Africa signed agreements on
the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola and the achievement of peace
in south-western Africa. On 16 January 1989 the Security Council
officially declared that Namibia's transition to independence
would begin on 1 April 1989 (Security Council Resolution 628/1989). The
council also authorized sending the UNTAG to Namibia to supervise the
transition (Security Council Resolution 629/1989).

In one short year, from 1 April 1989 to 21 March 1990, the 8,000-member
UNTAG force established 200 outposts, including 42 regional or district
centers and 48 police stations. During the transition the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had supervised the repatriation of
433,000 Namibian exiles who had been scattered throughout 40 countries.
UNTAG supervised the registration of more than 700,000 voters, more than
97% of whom cast ballots in the historic election from 7–11
November 1989 that marked the end of Namibia's colonial history.
The Special Committee also dispatched a visiting mission to observe and
monitor the election process. In that election Sam Nujoma, head of
SWAPO, was elected the country's first president. The mission
reported to the Special Committee that the people of Namibia had, in
accordance with Security Council resolution 435 (1978), exercised their
inalienable right to self-determination by choosing their
representatives to a constituent assembly that was charged with drafting
a constitution for an independent Namibia.

In March 1990, Secretary-General Perez de Cuéllar administered
the oath of office to the new Namibian president at a historic
celebration. In a moving show of good faith, President F. W. DeKlerk of
South Africa took part in the inauguration ceremony. Nelson Mandela,
then leader of South Africa's African National Congress party and
only recently released from prison in South Africa, also attended, as
did hundreds of dignitaries from 70 countries.

On 23 April 1990 Namibia became the 159th member of the United Nations.

Table 1

Non-Self-Governing Territories, Listed by the General Assembly in
1946 and Subsequent Years, That Have Become Independent States or
Joined Neighboring Independent States
Australia

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Federated States of
Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau (in free association with the
United States))

1. In 1966, the General Assembly terminated South Africa's
mandate over South West Africa and placed the territory under the direct
responsibility of the UN. In 1968, the General Assembly declared that
the territory would be called Namibia, in accordance with its
people's wishes. Until independence, the legal administering
authority for Namibia was the UN Council for Namibia.

Table 2

Remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories Listed by the General
Assembly, as of 2002

France
2

New Caledonia

New Zealand

Tokelau Islands

Spain

Western Sahara
3

United Kingdom

Anguilla

Bermuda

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

Gibraltar

Montserrat

Pitcairn Island

St. Helena

Turks and Caicos Islands

United States

American Samoa

Guam United States Virgin Islands

2. On 2 December 1986, the General Assembly decided that New Caledonia
was a non-self-governing territory within the meaning of Chapter XI of
the UN Charter.

3. Spain informed the Secretary-General on 26 February 1976 that as of
that date, it had terminated its presence in the territory of the Sahara
and deemed it necessary to place the following on record: "Spain
considers itself henceforth exempt from any responsibility of an
international nature in connection with the administration of the
territory in view of the cessation of its participation in the temporary
administration established for the territory." On 5 December
1984, and in many subsequent resolutions, the General Assembly
reaffirmed that the question of Western Sahara was a question of
decolonization, which remained to be resolved by the people of Western
Sahara. In August 1988 the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente Popular
para la Liberación (Polisario Front) agreed in principle to the
proposals put forward by Secretary-General Perez de Cuéllar and
the Organization of African Unity. By its Resolutions 658 (1990) and 690
(1991) the Security Council adopted a settlement plan for Western Sahara
that included a referendum for self-determination by the people of the
country. In September 1991, the UN achieved a cease-fire in Western
Sahara between the factions, through the establishment of the UN Mission
for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). In 1994, MINURSO began
the process of identifying potential voters. In May 1996, the
Secretary-General suspended the identification process and most MINURSO
civilian staff were withdrawn. The military component remained to
monitor and verify the ceasefire. In October 1998, in an attempt to move
the process of a referendum forward, the Secretary-General presented a
package of measures to the parties, which included a protocol on
identification of those remaining applicants from the three tribal
groupings. Frente POLISARIO accepted the package the following month,
and the government of Morocco accepted in principle in March 1999. As of
2002, the identification process had been completed, but the parties
continued to hold divergent views regarding an appeals process, the
repatriation of refugees and other aspects of the plan.